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Have faith in God's grace.
Jesus taught by every means during His days on earth. He
not only spoke the Word of God to the people, He also used
illustrative stories and symbolic actions. For example,
one day near the end of His time here, He approached a fig tree
to find something to eat but there was no fruit on the tree
because it was out of season. And the Lord Jesus cursed
the tree, saying, "Let no one ever eat from you again."
The fig tree, in this case, represented the nation of Israel, as
it often does in Scripture. While the Lord truly was
hungry, He knew the season, and used it as an example.
This is only one of many prophetic and teaching examples the
Lord Jesus used during His earthly ministry.
But there is more. The Gospel account according to Mark tells us
what happened the next day:
Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree
dried up from the roots. And Peter, remembering, said to
Him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered
away."
So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God.
For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be
removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his
heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he
will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you,
whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive
them, and you will have them. (Mark
11:20-24, NKJV)
Many of the miraculous signs given by the Lord Jesus are tied
directly to faith in God, according to the Lord's own words.
Jesus did not simply go around healing people and doing
wonderful things. Granted, He was often moved by
compassion. But He knew His mission was leading Him to the
cross, where He would soon die for the sins of the world.
He would be gone, and the people would still need to know the
truth about God and prayer. So He nearly always pressed the
recipient of His blessings, and the surrounding crowd, to see
that God was ready to act in response to human faith.
As you read through the gospel accounts, you will see this for
yourself. Again and again, Jesus said, "according to your
faith..." and similar phrases. The Lord breaks the link
between dead religion and the living God — who truly cares about
people, regardless of who they are or how they have lived their
lives. The religious traditions of the day did more to
destroy faith than to inspire it. And the same is true
today.
God acts on our behalf because He loves us, not because we
perform some religious act or say some magic words. No one
is saved, for example, because they correctly recite the
"sinner's prayer" or because they get baptized in a certain way
or because they join a particular church group. We are
saved by grace through faith in Jesus Himself. As we come
to realize what God is offering us in Christ, and just how
desperately we really need His forgiveness, we are saved.
This occurs first in the heart, and then the confession is made
outwardly.
No one receives help from God because he or she has "been good"
enough to merit God's kindness. The grace of God is by
definition "unmerited kindness" and undeserved love. God
already loves us. He also already knows all about us.
We cannot put a spin on our behavior that will fool or impress
the Lord. He already knows all about who and what we are.
And yet He delights to do us good. It is His pleasure to
help, to rescue, to give and give, and to give again.
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